There were a few characters in Brookside that would always remain my favourite and the first one that comes to mind is Bing and all others come second best
The Corkhills were a different liverpudlian working class family to the Grants. Politics and religion played no part in their life, Rod was an evertonian unlike Damon who was a Red. Billy read The Sun which would never have got through the Grant's postbox and their problems were mainly lack of money through Doreen's lack of thrift.
Brilliant analysis and Doreen's general irresponsibility pushed Billy into several horrible situations: the insurance scam burglary and crucially, the supermarket robbery. Ironically it should've been he who left Doreen - not the other way round. It's amazing to reflect on the depth of social commentary in Brookside, all those decades ago. C4 has long abandoned any pretence of producing anything even remotely close to the cutting edge brilliance seen here.
And the later incarnation of Corkhills - Jimmy, Jackie, and family - were different from the original. Billy was fundamentally an honest, proud man who tried to do right but was pulled into foolish and damaging decisions by circumstances. They are more your "typical" working-class family, with no assets or savings, and just one pay packet away from financial doom. Jimmy, on the other hand, was the author of his own bad circumstances, a petty crook who left a long-suffering wife to pick up the pieces of his criminality and heroin addiction. In real life you often see these differences in outcome in the same family. A family grows up in poverty, some siblings become your ordinary working-class family, but one or two of the brood end up on the fringes of society.
It's a shame they didn't actually show Nick taking drugs and dying in the park, alone, broken, and freezing. It would've been a more hard-hitting, miserable final image to a hard-hitting, miserable story and Nick's loss of grip over his addiction. I do think, though, that the choice of middle-aged Nick, an architect, and middle-aged Charlie, a lecturer, as heroin addicts was an interesting and odd choice by the writers. While I'm not saying that educated, older people are immune to the predations of substance abuse, it is certainly unusual in the case of heroin. Smackheads are overwhelmingly from poor, dysfunctional, or highly disturbed backgrounds, introduced to the drug from an early age.
The one thing I did wonder about was when mr Paul Collins s son became another character just like Leo would be another kid and the viewers are left to ponder as to what could have gone wrong but even Dallas and Coronation street did the same
Love these episodes of brookside
The music they play on the radios and the rabbit show 🤣🤣
There were a few characters in Brookside that would always remain my favourite and the first one that comes to mind is Bing and all others come second best
Poor Heather.
That scene where she was looking through his notebook - tough stuff. This was a very brave story.
Did Lucy ever come back?
Yes, Katrin Cartlidge returned briefly in 1990 following the death of Doreen Sloane when they wrote the Collins family out
I thought only Crossroads characters used the term 'suppa'!
These were the days before Ron Dixon or Max Farnham and Bing David Crosby who was one of a kind I loved John Burgess RIP
same here. Born on this day
The Corkhills were a different liverpudlian working class family to the Grants. Politics and religion played no part in their life, Rod was an evertonian unlike Damon who was a Red. Billy read The Sun which would never have got through the Grant's postbox and their problems were mainly lack of money through Doreen's lack of thrift.
Brilliant analysis and Doreen's general irresponsibility pushed Billy into several horrible situations: the insurance scam burglary and crucially, the supermarket robbery. Ironically it should've been he who left Doreen - not the other way round. It's amazing to reflect on the depth of social commentary in Brookside, all those decades ago. C4 has long abandoned any pretence of producing anything even remotely close to the cutting edge brilliance seen here.
And the later incarnation of Corkhills - Jimmy, Jackie, and family - were different from the original.
Billy was fundamentally an honest, proud man who tried to do right but was pulled into foolish and damaging decisions by circumstances. They are more your "typical" working-class family, with no assets or savings, and just one pay packet away from financial doom.
Jimmy, on the other hand, was the author of his own bad circumstances, a petty crook who left a long-suffering wife to pick up the pieces of his criminality and heroin addiction.
In real life you often see these differences in outcome in the same family. A family grows up in poverty, some siblings become your ordinary working-class family, but one or two of the brood end up on the fringes of society.
It's a shame they didn't actually show Nick taking drugs and dying in the park, alone, broken, and freezing. It would've been a more hard-hitting, miserable final image to a hard-hitting, miserable story and Nick's loss of grip over his addiction.
I do think, though, that the choice of middle-aged Nick, an architect, and middle-aged Charlie, a lecturer, as heroin addicts was an interesting and odd choice by the writers.
While I'm not saying that educated, older people are immune to the predations of substance abuse, it is certainly unusual in the case of heroin. Smackheads are overwhelmingly from poor, dysfunctional, or highly disturbed backgrounds, introduced to the drug from an early age.
amanda burton is so good
She certainly is !
Amanda's a marvellous women. Superb actress. Xx
She is she's incredible 🤗🥰❤💕
The one thing I did wonder about was when mr Paul Collins s son became another character just like Leo would be another kid and the viewers are left to ponder as to what could have gone wrong but even Dallas and Coronation street did the same
@CarlD2 Am not sure if she did. If she did she was played by someone else
Yes, Katrin Cartlidge returned briefly in 1990 following the death of Doreen Sloane when they wrote the Collins family out